This invention relates to an apparatus and a method for mounting electronic parts, such as chips, on a printed circuit board. More particularly, it relates to such apparatus and method for accurately supervising plural sorts of electronic parts for accurately mounting these electronic parts at pre-set positions on a sole printed circuit board without using a large-sized mounting device. Further, it relates to an apparatus for mounting electronic parts and an apparatus for applying an adhesive used in the mounting apparatus for electronic parts.
Up to now, electronic parts, in the form of chips, mounted on the printed circuit board such as by setting them thereon, without using terminals for connection, have been in use.
For mounting the electronic parts in the form of chips on the printed circuit board, an automatic mounting apparatus for electronic parts, controlled by a computer, is m use.
As this sort of the automatic mounting apparatus for electronic parts, such an apparatus shown in FIG. 1 is in use. The mounting apparatus for electronic parts, shown in FIG. 1, includes a furnishing unit for electronic parts 2, for continuously furnishing electronic parts in the form of chips, a mounting head 5 for transporting a suction nozzle 3 adapted for sucking and holding the electronic parts 1 by air to a pre-set mounting position on a printed circuit board 4, a positioning unit 6 for positioning the electronic parts 1 and an XY table 7 for supporting the printed circuit board 4 in the XY directions perpendicular to each other.
The electronic parts 1 used in the automatic mounting apparatus for electronic parts are shipped in a state of being accommodated in a supply reel 8 for electronic parts, and transported by the automatic mounting apparatus for electronic parts shown in FIG. 1 to a working site for mounting the electronic parts 1.
The supply reel 8 is comprised of a reel 9 on which an elongated carrier tape 10 is wound, as shown in FIG. 2. On the carrier tape 10, electronic parts of the same sort, for example, are arrayed longitudinally of the carrier tape 10 one-by-one and provisionally secured, such as with an adhesive. The supply reels 8 for electronic parts are loaded on plural part cassettes 11 provided on the furnishing unit for electronic parts 2, as shown in FIG. 1, and are stored in this state in an automatic mounting apparatus for electronic parts. The carrier tapes 10, wound on the supply reels 8 for electronic parts, loaded on the parts cassettes 11, are pulled out towards the loading head 5.
The mounting head 5, constituting the automatic mounting apparatus for electronic parts, has a rotary table 12, rotatable about a center axis, and plural suction nozzles 3. These suction nozzles are arrayed circumferentially of the rotary table 12, about the center axis of the rotary table 12 as center. By rotation of the rotary table 12, the suction nozzles 3 are moved between a suction position of sucking the electronic parts 1 supported on the carrier table 10, a position setting position of positioning the electronic parts 1 by the positioning unit 6, and a mounting position of mounting the electronic parts on the printed circuit board 4.
For mounting the electronic parts on the printed circuit board 4 using the above-described automatic mounting apparatus for electronic parts, the printed circuit board 4 is transported from a loading station and loaded on the XY table 7. The electronic parts 1 are then sucked by the suction nozzles 3 in the suction position and the rotary table 12 is rotated for moving the suction nozzle 3 to the position-setting position. At the position-setting position of the suction nozzle 3, the electronic parts 1 are positioned by the position-setting unit 6. After the end of the position setting of the electronic parts 1, the rotary table 12 is rotated for moving the suction nozzle 3 to a pre-set mounting position on the printed circuit board 4 for mounting the electronic parts 1 sucked by the suction nozzle 3. When the suction nozzle 3 is moved to the mounting position on the printed circuit board 4, the suction nozzle is lowered towards the printed circuit board 4 to mount the electronic part held thereby on the printed circuit board 4.
When the mounting of the electronic parts comes to a close, the XY table 7 is moved to the mounting position for the next electronic parts. This sequence of operations is repeated. After mounting all of the electronic parts, the printed circuit board 4 is returned to its initial position. After the end of the pre-set electronic parts 1, the printed circuit board is discharged from the XY table 7 to an unloading station.
In the conventional automatic mounting apparatus for electronic parts, the vertical movement of the suction nozzle 3 and the rotary movement of the rotary table 12 are performed in a pre-set sequence each time an electronic part 1 is mounted on the printed circuit board 4, and again the suction nozzle 3 performs vertical movement. The plural electronic parts 1 are mounted on the printed circuit board 4 by the repetition of these series of operations.
Meanwhile, the structure of the electronic circuits used for electronic apparatus such as personal computers is changed for each type of the electronic apparatus used. That is, the printed circuit boards of different structures of the electronic circuits are used for different types of the electronic apparatus of the same kind. Therefore, multiple species small quantity type production is used for printed circuit boards used in electronic apparatus such as computers.
With the above-described automatic mounting apparatus for electronic parts, the production efficiency is high and the production cost is inexpensive for producing a large quantity of the printed circuit boards of the same kind. However, the automatic mounting apparatus for electronic parts itself is large-sized so that limitations are imposed on the mounting space. Moreover, the mechanical portions of the apparatus and hence the operation are complex to render it difficult for plural operators to use the apparatus easily. For manufacturing the multi-species small-quantity type printed circuit boards, it is necessary to use such an apparatus in which the mounting positions of the electronic parts can be easily changed responsive to design changes in the printed circuit boards.
Also, for manufacturing the multi-species small-quantity type printed circuit boards, it is desirable to lower equipment cost for the manufacturing apparatus or to improve the operational efficiency as well as to accord a degree of freedom to the installment environment of the manufacturing, apparatus.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel apparatus and method for mounting electronic parts whereby electronic parts can be mounted on the printed circuit board without employing a large-sized apparatus such that the entire process from furnishing electronic parts to mounting on the printed circuit board is controlled by a computer.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a novel apparatus and method for mounting electronic parts whereby plural kinds of the electronic parts to be mounted on a sole printed circuit board can be accurately mounted at pre-set positions on the printed circuit board.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a novel apparatus and method for mounting electronic parts whereby plural kinds of the electronic parts can be reliably mounted on the printed circuit board without dependency on the thickness or size of the electronic parts mounted on the printed circuit board.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an adhesive coating apparatus whereby an adhesive for provisionally securing the electronic parts to the printed circuit board may be applied easily in a manner useful for application to the apparatus and method for mounting electronic parts according to the present invention.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for correcting the arraying of the electronic parts whereby plural electronic parts can be loaded on a loading member for loading the electronic parts in a regular arraying appearance.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for reliably loading electronic parts without dependancy on the thickness or size of the electronic parts mounted on the printed circuit board.
For accomplishing the above object, the present invention provides a loading apparatus for electronic parts including a plurality of loading members for electronic parts, each having a loading through-hole extending in the up-and-down direction for loading plural electronic parts to be mounted on a printed circuit board, and a detachment preventative mechanism for prohibiting incidental descent of the electronic parts from the loading through-hole. The electronic parts are loaded in a stacked state in groups of the same sorts. The apparatus also includes a loading member furnishing casing in which is arrayed at least a set of loading members for electronic parts each accommodating at least a set of electronic parts to be loaded on the printed circuit board, a loading member holder having a plurality of holding portions each holding the set of the electronic parts arrayed and held in the loading member furnishing casing, and a loading device for electronic parts having the loading member holder mounted therein. The loading device for electronic parts includes a plurality of extruder members arranged for being inserted via upper opening ends of the loading through-holes of the loading members for electronic parts held by the loading member holder and an extruder member descent control mechanism adapted for controlling the descent by the self-gravity of these extruder members and for annulling the controlled state to permit descent of the extruder members. The extruder members descend by their own gravity through the insides of the loading through-holes when the extruder member descent control mechanism enables descent of the extruder members to thrust the electronic parts loaded in the loading through-holes to eject the electronic parts from the loading members for electronic parts via lower end openings in order to put the electronic parts at pre-set positions on the printed circuit board arranged below the loading member holder.
Preferably, the loading member holder carries identification symbols in association with plural holding portions provided on the holder and the loading members for electronic parts are each provided with identification symbols associated with the identification symbols provided in each holding portion.
Preferably, the identification symbols provided on the loading members for electronic parts are numerical figures or letters indicating the arraying sequence of the plural holding portions and the identification symbols provided on the loading members for electronic parts are numerical figures or letters associated with the numerical figures or symbols indicating the numerical figures or symbols specifying the arraying sequence of the plural holding portions.
Preferably, the loading member furnishing casing has a series of identification symbols comprised of numerical figures or letters associated with the numerical figures or letters specifying the arraying sequence of the plural holding portions. The one set of the loading members for electronic parts is arrayed in the loading member furnishing casing with the identification symbols of the loading members for electronic parts in agreement with the numerical figures or letters provided on the loading member furnishing casing.
Preferably, the identification symbols provided on the loading member holder are in agreement with the identification symbols for electronic parts for mounting provided on the printed circuit board.
Preferably, there are provided portions of a pre-set pattern on main body portions of the loading members for electronic parts, the portions completing the preset pattern when the loading members for electronic parts are arranged in the loading member furnishing casing with the identification symbols provided on the loading members for electronic parts in agreement with the identification symbols provided on the loading member furnishing casing.
Preferably, the mounting apparatus for electronic parts also includes a loading device for electronic parts having a storage portion for electronic parts for storing a large number of electronic parts loaded in the loading members for electronic parts, a loading member holding unit for holding the loading members for electronic parts and the storage portion for electronic parts at a pre-set relative position to each other, and a loading unit for electronic parts for taking out the electronic parts from the storage portion for electronic parts for holding the electronic parts thus taken out and for loading the electronic parts thus held in the loading through-holes in the loading members for electronic parts.
Preferably, an electronic part holder holding electronic parts stored in the storage portion has identification symbols associated with the identification symbols provided on the loading members for electronic parts held by the part holder.
Preferably, the mounting apparatus for electronic parts also includes a loading member storage casing for housing a plurality of loading members for electronic parts for mounting on the printed circuit board in groups of electronic parts each of a specified type, the loading members for electronic parts housing the electronic parts for mounting on the printed circuit board in the groups of the specified types.
Preferably, the loading member storage casing has identification symbols in association with the housing positions of housing the loading members for electronic parts housing specified types of the electronic parts. The identification symbols are associated with identification symbols provided on the loading members for electronic parts housing the specified types of the electronic parts.
Preferably, the mounting apparatus for electronic parts also includes an adhesive applicator device for applying an adhesive for provisionally securing the electronic parts supplied from the loading members for electronic parts to the printed circuit board.
The present invention also provides a method for mounting electronic parts including housing plural electronic parts of plural specified types in a plurality of loading members for electronic parts, each having a loading through-hole extending in the up-and-down direction for loading plural electronic parts to be mounted on a printed circuit board, and a detachment preventative unit for prohibiting incidental descent of the electronic parts from the loading through-hole. The electronic parts are loaded in a stacked state in groups of the same sorts. The method also includes housing a set of loading members for electronic parts, each accommodating at least a set of electronic parts to be loaded on the printed circuit board, in a loading member furnishing casing, holding the set of the loading members for electronic parts in a plurality of holding portions of the loading member holder each holding the set of the electronic parts arrayed and held in the loading member finishing casing, loading the loading member holder holding on the set of the loading members for electronic loading members for electronic parts on a loading device for electronic parts so that the holder is disposed above the printed circuit board arranged in the loading device for electronic parts, and inserting extruder members provided in the loading device for electronic parts into the loading through-holes of the loading members for electronic parts via the upper opening ends for lowering the extruder members for extruding and ejecting the electronic parts loaded in the loading through-holes from the loading members for electronic parts via lower opening ends of the loading through-holes to put the electronic parts at pre-set positions on the printed circuit board arranged below the loading member holder.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the explanation of the following embodiments of the invention.